The Living Room

It has arrived! The new furniture for our living room - although not everything is new. Only the couch, loveseat, and ottoman. The rest - pictures, rug, book cases, chest, tables, lamps - is all original.

And yes, The Ugly Green Recliner is staying.

I believe it was Greg who suggested that the recliner bore a resemblance to Martin Crane's recliner on "Frasier".

Picture a condo full of priceless antiques, designer furniture, bottles of $500 rare vintage ports. And a mustard yellow recliner.

Well, our place isn'ta condo. We haven't got a lot of antiques. Our furniture is new and nice, but by no means "designer", and our limit on wine is $10 per bottle (a rule that we enacted in college that has remained through the present).

But we're keeping The Ugly Green Recliner (UGR).

Earlier today, while the furniture guys were hauling in the new stuff, Nathaniel turned to me (with a gleam in his eye) and suggested that we 1) sand the wood on the UGR 2) stain it dark to match the rest of the wood in the place 3) remove the cushons and 4) replace them with something else (5 - whispered - perhaps leather???). And then he gave me a sheepish grin.

Wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy a leather recliner? Or a nice leather chair? We contemplated that while furniture shopping last weekend. However the Practical side of Nathaniel came through and that idea was soon squashed.

Because we do, after all, have two cats. One being a 19.8 pound House Monster who attacks at will and the other, a 3.2 pound Mini Monster (Mini Me!) who charges up and down for hours on end. Leather, the real stuff, the stuff that costs more than a shiny Zipp Disc, wouldn't last a second in our place. Because the cats are curious. And they have claws.

And you know what happened to the cat who was curious? chimed Nathaniel....

Actually, we've enacted a new rule in the house: No kitties on the new furniture. And lest they be tempted we got small, plastic water spritzers, to squirt water at them, should they hop on or worse - claw - the couch. Nathaniel has already gotten Tabbitha twice.

I was forced to take aim, but had a very difficult time pulling the trigger.

Poor Tabbitha - who is on a diet, who suddenly has a new little sister, who's food has been moved to the bathroom, who has a hard time dealing with change - can no longer jump on the couch like she's done for the past 6 years. She is now resigned to the floor or Ulgy Green Recliner.

Life is rought, I tell you.

But that's what happends. We go through changes. We grow. We develop new tastes for things, new appreciations, and if we're lucky, we can pause long enough to really enjoy them.

Before I set out for my afternoon ride, I happened across Nathaniel enjoying the new furniture. He was doing what he's been dreaming of doing for the past week: reading his book, a beer close at hand, and relaxing on the couch. It's times like this when life really IS great.